Reno 1868 FC tops Portland Timbers U-23 7-3 to advance in US Open Cup

Reno 1868 FC continued its comeback tour Wednesday night at Greater Nevada Field as the club pummeled Portland Timbers U-23 7-3 to advance to the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup next Wednesday.

Reno will now host rival Sacramento Republic FC at 7:30 p.m. on May 23 at Greater Nevada Field. Tickets are on sale now.

WEDNESDAY’S MATCH RECAP

Reno’s Wednesday night began with a nightmare scenario as Reno went down 2-0 to Portland in the 40th minute after a Wouter Verstraaten goal. Reno found itself down two goals for the second-straight match.

But just like the match before, Reno refused to give up and seconds before the first half whistle blew, forward Jerry van Ewijk helped Reno respond. van Ewijk’s first goal of the night kicked off a barrage of goals in the second half. van Ewijk helped knot things up at 2-2 in the 47th minute after sub Danny Musovski found van Ewijk inside the box.

But Reno was not out of the woods as defender Dembakwi Yomba’s errant pass slid past Reno goalkeeper Kyle Ihn to put Portland up 3-2 on an own goal.

But Reno refused to go away with Musovski scoring the game-tying goal with a nice penalty kick in the 69th minute. From there it was smooth sailing for Reno as the club grabbed the lead in the 73rd minute off a Musovski header.

van Ewijk capped off his spectacular night with a hat trick in the 82nd minute after defender Duke Lacroix found him streaking down the left wing. Midfielder Lindo Mfeka tapped in a goal off a Christian Thierjung assist.

Thierjung himself found the back of the net to cap off a six-straight goal barrage in the 90th minute.